People ought not be judged by title or status, wealth or power, but the most respected legacy must be one which touches your soul with personal kindness and sacrifice, with tears and great happiness, and most of all with love. Love brings peace to your mind, warmth to your heart and ease to your body. Let not pomp and pageantry, misguide you into thinking one is great, fore out of the womb we all were born and to the earth we end up. The greatest of all people is the least of all. I shed a tear for any good person who passes, but none should be elevated above another to make another feel lesser. Poverty, squalor, hunger, suffering and turmoil is what many experience, yet to be given a title and to do it, this is no great honour. Is not a homeless person just as valid, is not a refuse collector doing worthy work, is not a poor artist or destitute poet not accomplished, are they not worthy of praise, like all good people are? When my father died, I said a speech, nobody could hear, as the microphone was deliberately switched off. When I choked up and cried when I spoke, did anyone care? It was a small funeral, modest, did anyone apart from my mother and I really appreciate the significance of this day? You may honour and submit, you may lower your head in honour, but I do not lower mine, only in grief and condolences do I show my respect. I lower my head to my father who brought me up, and to my mother also, but not to someone I have never met nor know. My parents who fed me and changed my nappies, who supported me and encouraged me through the rigours and challenges of life. Where were the trumpets and horses when I recovered from my mental breakdown, and when my father lost his mind with dementia? When my mother ran for her life? When my sister was to die from lack of oxygen and my brother unable to walk was carried to intensive care to save his life? This is not jealousy or bitterness, but rather it's what ought to be thought and what ought to praised, and what ought to be respected. When my God, who I have faith in, was born, not in great power but in humility and died on the tree did anyone but his mother, the apostles and few others weep and mourn. Not thousands, not millions. All people on the earth are the same, only God is above us, only Heaven, where we want to be brings us glory, and to get there we must follow a childlike and humble path, lowly in mind and with spirit.
Kermit the frog 🐸
He was a tadpole of mine,
Stolen from school and made sublime,
From one in a hundred he was made a unique friend,
I did a bad thing, but created a Godsend,
In my garden he would grow,
What he knew I didn't know,
I fed him meat hung on a string,
Such satisfaction and reward he did bring,
From an ice-cream box, I made a pond in the earth,
I added stones and rocks, he never made a sound,
I saw him jump around and then one day he did something profound,
On his back I saw him, in the water of his home,
I was sad, but this frog was saved,
I recognised him as a friend and companion, maybe it's what this frog craved,
He was looked after day by day,
Though he didn't have much to do or say,
To me, I did a great thing,
To him life I did bring,
And he gave back joy and a smile,
To a child that's going the extra mile!
We'll meet again I'm sure anyhow,
I have no doubt,
Somewhere somehow!
Ingrained
To fathom a single lick of paint on a Cathedral ceiling, a bolt holding up a skyscraper, a blade of grass on a football pitch, tiny, but is the solid fabric of the whole with a soul.
Like me, I'm ingrained, part of society, part of the planet Earth, part of the Universe, part of the Creators creation,
Truth is in my bones and the cells of my body.
At home, in the streets, in the parks and parades, in the towns and cities, as I walk and talk, workout or rest, I always do my best,
I can do anything I set my mind to with help from the Man above and His love!
Hairs on a dog,
Feathers on a bird,
Moistness on a frog,
The following of a herd,
I tingle at details, adrenaline rushes from that which makes you what you are...
Where am I from? They ask.
From the earth, made by the hands of God, from a spark in the womb of my mother.
Where are you from? I say back!
Peckham? Portsmouth? Hollywood? Or the Outer Hebrides? Hawaii?!
A Nightingale's home isn't a cage, it wants to be free to sing it's beautiful song!
Assumption and ignorance go hand in hand, because you don't know me until you know me!
I've got Angels watching out for me, kicking away those demons! With my prayers I'm bullet proof, with my head low and my eyes focussed I'm aware! Every single thing happens for a reason, that's where controlling your thoughts and actions is a preventative remedy for the soul!
My thoughts, my character, my point of view, my truth is my truth!
That's my proof! That's my identity! Don't box me in, don't shove me in a corner, my ego doesn't prevail, so neither will yours! Who's got your back?! My back is gotten by The Creator and Sustainer of The entire Universe!!
Like the leaves on an Olive tree or drops of water in the Red Sea,
They make it what it is,
Just like Grapes make the vine,
You know a tree by its fruit, and those fruit don't fall far from the tree,
Select and savour those good fruit, for they are sweet and kind, so taste and see, and you will know who you are and who is for you!
Freedom will come
I'm Locked in a cage
in the confines of my home,
people listen in as
I fight with my thoughts,
anger, resentment and worry,
people point the finger and talk with certainty about uncertain things and
think they know me, when I don't even know them,
I rage inside,
my mind races,
I pace back and forth,
restless and unrelenting.
Then one day,
Someone unlocks my life,
Not with a key or with their hands,
But with a small word of encouragement,
A true word of love
and peace overwhelmed me,
Peace grew around my body like a vine, holding me firm and giving me strength,
The vine didn't hold me down, but like a friend it held me and helped me on my way to freedom.
With freedom anything is possible,
Anything which stems and has its roots in nourishing goodness,
The earth in which we walk has this goodness,
But only with unquenchable hope can everlasting shoots grow,
It is hope soaring high into the clouds that gives ultimate freedom,
The Eagle is strong and tenacious, and grapples with talons clinging onto hope with vigour,
But it is only with the Doves spirit of peace and stillness that hope lasts!
The descended Dove displays inner strength, spiritual powers to tackle life's greatest warfare!
Never give in to your demons!
Never let your enemies cloud your judgement,
Hold on to what is dear to you and resist to be tainted and tarnished with words that are not you and never were,
Never let another stand in your ground,
But, by all means help those who need help,
Give with generosity,
Share your love with kindness,
Be a rock and a Dove,
Be the Lion and the Lamb,
Be a force of nature and a spiritual King!
Freedom will come,
With peace in your heart and hope gives rest to us all!
Sacrifice
I open my book and read.
Is this it? Is it time? Can things get worse?
I'm scratching and crawling,
Itching and gnawing, gnashing my teeth with anger,
Irritation sending me up brittle scaffolding in this hot and dusty time.
Beautiful sun rays gaze through the floating thick clouds,
But, I can't appreciate this natural wonder right now,
I'm in a phase of pointing my finger and setting the world to rights,
Fighting fights I can't win,
There in my head, so I must let go and take in the magnificence of my surroundings, and throw these thoughts to the bin.
The shine, the reflections, the blaze of the sun, leaves synthesising light, they never lose their life is won. One in being alive and two in simplicity, three in nourishing the world and four in synchronicity. Synchronised better than any clock to the natural world, they know I'm there, they see me and hear me.
Trees experience trauma, but never complain, they only give and help us sustain, they see the light and grow towards it, exhaling life into our lungs and systems. Everything that has breath sings and calls the name of that which helps it grow, I believe. The flow of water to the roots, into the shoots, creates a perpetual motion and unending cyclical growth of hope.
Both beast and herb are precious,
we eat them to live,
all life is sacrifice,
With kindness and giving,
Without eachother there is no living.
The lamb was sacrificed and endured torture,
The fish was caught and eaten,
The lion was tamed and became a friend,
The donkey was ridden on to the death,
And the horse led the way.
The thunder cloud is descended and the final olive branch is received,
The palm leaves are held high.
It is time!
Love is the warmth
Love is within us,
We must show and feel it,
Expose the fire and kindle our openness,
As light brings the food of the future,
Creating real dreams and affectionate soft petal-like touches.
Be a broad Palm leaf absorbing the sunlight,
Soak it up and transmit your positive oxygen,
Only goodness comes in this way and only the breath of exhilaration is exhaled.
Earthy hands feel the compost of creation,
Remember your roots and
Embrace change,
Even the slightest touch of love must be held close,
So that it can grow,
Like a grapevine it clings on to structure and strength,
Expanding and giving fruit, it's voluminous sweetness is ever tasted.
Wiping my brow in the heat,
My inner glow never ends,
I show it and absorb it,
Show your desire and the fire you feel,
This energy of steps of bare feet to the sea is cooled, but not quenched as the dazzle must continue from inside.
The spark snaps and crackles,
Jumping forward to new places and people,
Remembering flames showering you like falling embers of blossom,
As brightness comes through the silhouette of the Sycamore and onto my face,
I hold this atmosphere strong and close!
Poetry Manifesto
How many people really know you?!
Your inner state of being,
The crux that holds you together,
The outward appearance, hiding the inner frailties forever,
The confusion within the mess that is your stress and your strain of life,
Your solid strength and your timid weakness. How many people really know these things?
Do people really know you?!
What you've experienced, your deepest sadness, your euphoric victories!
What drove you insane and back from brink of insanity again,
What surrounds your soft centred and the grit in your outward exterior,
What you see in the mirror and who looks back,
The explosion in your mind and the damage in your heart,
What really brings you peace and joy, sorrow, ecstasy and a warmth inside!
I know who I am brethren!
Do you know who you are?
If you wear a mask, ripped it off with pleasure and show the world who you truly are!
What makes your heart beat and skip,
Are you in essence good or evil?
Because for me it's clear cut!
Do not judge me sonny, by your standards!
Do not belittle me boy, with your slander,
Undermine me at your peril girl,
Abuse and use me at your own detriment missy,
I'm nobody's puppet,
Nobody's toy,
I'm not soft clay that you can mould how you want,
Yes, I'm speaking for the many who have been hurt!
Yes, I'm angry! And I should be! Nothing wrong with that! No darkness in anger if expressed in a good and right way brothers and sisters!
I'll always be the rock,
Right at the depths of the deep,
Fore there is always only one way I aim,
I aim high!
I rise!
I float above and beyond the stars and ride the asteroid waves!
I kick star dust in the face of the bully!
I sweep them under the crust of the Earth and pat the earth firmly down!
My friends are the animals and birds, the plants and flowers and trees!
My friends are the few,
The few self aware people who shine the light of goodness and the sensitive souls, whose only fault is that sensitive and delicate nature.
Beware of the Grizzly Bear and the Harpy Eagle, the Wren and the Weasel, the Buttercup, the Dandelion and the Daisy, fore my friends are all around,
The man and woman whose hand I grasp graciously, and open up to and tell them what's on my mind and in my heart!
Fore they are strong and courageous to the core!
Open your windows and reveal your soul to the neighbourhood,
Let them spread their rumours,
Let them squabble amongst themselves,
Rise above their pettiness
Above their idle gossip and chit chat,
Forget what your teachers told you,
Professors and lecturers too,
Forget vanity and arrogance,
Forget French philosophy,
Forget that nonsense Nietzsche uttered,
Remember the Forerunner,
Remember the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last,
This is what makes a person stronger - Faith, Hope and above everything on the face of the Earth and in the entire universe... It is Love!!!
Love is what makes you strong!